Stealing Time
by catcher in the light
Summary: FE Fates. Spoiler-free. When the cats are away, the mice will play - well, if Niles can draw Corrin's attention away from her work for once. F!Corrin x Niles.


**Niles is one of my favorite characters in FE and I love his silly personality and the fact that it hides a kind heart. I hope you like this little piece!**

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"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Niles deliberately stretched out his drawl, making sure it was slow and sultry. Corrin was prettier than a painting with her wild hair tumbling around her shoulders, her head propped up on one bored hand as she read through the large stacks of papers. She quirked her eyebrows, but didn't even look up.

He leaned on the table beside her and tilted his head charmingly. "You know, since we've had the place to ourselves."

"Hm?" she said absently. "Oh, are the kids gone?"

"Of course. They went to archery practice, remember? Nina wants to better her aim, and Kana was kind enough to offer himself as a target."

"Hm," she said again, clearly not listening. "Did you pack them lunch?"

"What kind of father do you think I am? Worms, curdled milk, sandwiches full of nails—you know, the usual. All part of a balanced meal."

"That's good."

 _Am I being ignored?_ Niles thought, mildly put out. _No one's ever rejected my advances, much less ignored them. What an awful feeling._ He sat across from her at the table and stared intently at her, shooting passionate daggers with his eyes, to no avail. She only moved a paper over and pulled a new one to her with a sigh.

"I'm having an affair with Xander," he announced loudly.

She scribbled her signature at the bottom of the paper and grabbed another sheet. "That's lovely, dear. Please give him my regards."

Niles lay his head down on the table, pouting. He'd had so little time alone with Corrin lately and he was beginning to feel it. She was always running around to war councils and inventory checks and other important matters he couldn't even begin to comprehend, only to come home to mother a rowdy daughter and a clingy son, and when she was finally free she looked so exhausted he couldn't bring himself to make a move, except for a massage that promptly put her to sleep. He understood, of course. She was a princess with a cause. It stood to reason she'd be busy.

"I'm lonely," he mumbled into the table.

Corrin's hand slipped into his hair and ruffled it. "Then just say it," she said.

He snapped his head up. "You were listening the whole time!"

She giggled. "Of course I was. I'm always listening to you, even when you think I'm not—or when you think I can't hear you, like when you give the children cookies at bedtime."

"I would never break rules like that."

"That's all you do," Corrin said, amused.

Niles sat back and held out his arms. "Then come give me the punishment I deserve. Or at least give me _something_ , didn't you hear me say I'm lonely?"

She slid into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him eagerly. He could taste her frustration on her mouth, mirroring his own. She had missed him as much as he missed her, he could tell. He inhaled her scent, apple cinnamon and myrrh, so intoxicating. He loved her, in every stupid, possible way.

"Let's start over," he said. He cleared his throat and said in a slow, sultry drawl, "It's been awhi—"

The door slammed opened.

"Mo _ther_ , Kana embarrassed me _again_ , I'm never speaking to him for the rest of my _life_ —ew, Father, what are you _doing_ —"

"I just asked them if they wanted to meet you," Kana wailed. "I thought you were staring at those boys because you wanted to talk to them—"

Corrin and Niles sighed simultaneously as their bickering intensified, and she reluctantly untangled herself from him. "Sorry, dear," she whispered, kissing his brow. "Another time."

He propped his head up on his elbow, watching her hurry over to their children to soothe their tears and tempers. He should have been annoyed, but the sight of Corrin patting Kana's face dry and offering sympathetic murmurs to Nina was delightful in its own way.

 _The irony of my own children stealing my beloved wife away from me_ , he thought. _Ah, well, enjoy it while you can, because I'm stealing her back tonight!_

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